


The Call

by ruusei



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2020-12-28 05:50:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21131711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruusei/pseuds/ruusei
Summary: Feyre has one last task on her to-do list before the weekend: an important phone call that she’s been putting off for a while.





	The Call

Feyre sighed. The little black box she had placed on the windowsill wasn’t going away. Looking past it, she could see that the afternoon sun was already getting close to the horizon beyond Albuquerque. Really, the sight shouldn’t give her so much anxiety, but after thinking about it all week, the task at hand had grown from a small item on her daily task list to a dark grey cloud that followed her around.

It was small, just a teensy tiny phone call. Definitely less than ten minutes, probably less than five minutes, and most likely less than two minutes. But Feyre had been putting it off for several days now, and after procrastinating throughout the day, it was almost too late to take care of before the weekend. If she waited another 30 minutes then it would be too late to be polite to call someone all the way in Massachusetts. 

It was the routine that she’d been keeping up all <s>day</s> week. Check the time, do a quick calculation of the time difference, then come up with a “valid” excuse to not call. 

6:41 a.m.: _It’s the middle of the morning so he’s working, I will call during his lunch break. _

10:15 a.m.: _No, he will be busy during lunch, I’ll call after work hours. _

2:57 p.m.: _But not too soon after the end of the day, what if he’s at happy hour with some coworkers? Can’t interrupt that._

4:26 p.m.: _It’s dinner time, it would be rude to call now. _

Now the time was 6:31 p.m. and it really was Feyre’s last chance to get this done before the weekend got into full swing. Her friends had already been bugging her to make everything Facebook official and Mor specifically said she wanted to celebrate tonight, which meant something was bound to end up on social media by the morning.

And it was the right thing to do. That was really the most important reason of all.

With that thought, Feyre picked up her cell phone, opened her contacts and scrolled down to one that she hadn’t used in over a year but couldn’t bring herself to delete. 

She steeled herself, and hit “call”. 

It rang once.

Twice.

_Maybe he won’t pick up._

Thrice. 

“Hello? Fey? Are you okay?”

Feyre had to stop herself from sighing aloud. _No more delaying this conversation. _

“Hi Tam. Um. Sorry. I know we haven’t talked in a while. But I had something I wanted to tell you. I just didn’t want you finding out on social media or something. I mean, I know we haven’t really kept in touch, but it just didn’t seem right.”

_Cauldron_, she was rambling, the thought-out statement she had written beforehand completely forgotten. Feyre took a deep breath. 

“What I mean to say is: Rhys proposed. I’m engaged. I thought you should know.”

“Oh. Congratulations.” The words sounded hollow. “I… I had always hoped we would have another chance.”

_You’re the one who sent me away. _

_You’re the one who broke up with me. _

_You only have yourself to blame. _

Feyre had to bite her tongue to keep from uttering any of the spiteful comments that ran through her head. There were a few moments of silence while she tried to think of an appropriate response. 

“I know. I’m sorry it didn’t work out that way.”

There was another brief pause, as if both of them were hoping the other would say something. But really, that was all there was to be said.

Tamlin broke the silence first. “Well. Fey. Be happy.”

“Thanks. You too.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Feyre had thought she’d feel relieved hanging up the phone. She did. But there were too many other emotions swirling around along with the relief. Anxiety that was only beginning to subside, guilt both about the failed relationship and for taking so long to call, and even a tiny bit of regret that things couldn’t have worked out differently between them.

She took the box off the windowsill, opened it up, admiring the stunning sapphire ring that was inside for a moment before gently taking it out and slipping it on her left ring finger. As she had been psyching herself up for the call it seemed like it would be awkward to wear her engagement ring while calling Tamlin, but now that the call was done, she was happy to put the ring back on her finger. 

There was a knock on the bedroom door, timed so perfectly with her train of thoughts that it seemed as though the person on the other side was a mind reader. “Done?” Rhys asked quietly.

“Yes,” she said, opening the door. 

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she replied, pulling him into a hug. She spent a moment savoring the feeling as her head rested against his chest. Then, pulling away, Feyre asked, “Shall we join everyone?”

Rhys smirked at her. “Ready to show off your ring?”

“No,” she said, cringing in anticipation of so much attention, and earning a raised eyebrow from Rhys. “But I’m sure they’re all ready to admire it.” 

Feyre chuckled, tucking herself under Rhys’s arm and led him out the bedroom door, toward whatever monstrosity of an engagement party Mor had seen fit to plan on their behalf.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting something here! I've got a fragmented idea for a longer fic, but am still in the process of coming up with a plan for it. However, I know how it ends, and that's what this fic is. Comments are welcome. I’m not entirely happy with the ending of this, but the last couple rounds of editing weren’t accomplishing anything, so here it is.


End file.
